Antifriction-bearing.



1i. PARKER.

ANTIFRIGTION BEARING.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. '1, 190s'.

`1,1 19,034.. Patented 980.1,1914

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HBBARD rnitxnaor MoUN'r VERNON, ALABAMA.

ANTIFRICTIoN-BARING.

Specication' of Letters Patent.

Patented D ec. 1, 1914.

' Application med April' 7, rene. 'serial No. 310,487.

To all/whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, HUBBARD PARKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Mount Vernon,.in the county of Mobile and-State ofillabama, have invented cer- .tain'new anduseful Improvements in Antifricti'on-Bearings, of which the following is a s ecication.

Ahis invention relates to improvementsin antifriction bearings for the journals of laides,"shafts and, in' fact, any device in whichballs or rollersmay be used to advanwiththe necessity iof -a lubricantand lpar-V ticularly in those structures in which ballsand rollers revolve both on their axes and around the shaft axle or other device, and are held apart, that is to say, separated by spreader rollers and other devices.

Prior to my invention, in bearings in which balls or rollers or both, as maybe, are employed, there has `,been a possibility of slip` `plng or grinding contact or both, in cases where the conditions of operation cause an end thrust, and so Afar as I can .discover no provision takingicare of such end thrust has been provided in any device without there being present at the same time, slipping, twisting o'r grinding contact between surfaces of which one, or both, were rotatino'. t

'tIVhile claimsmay have been made heretofore to rolling friction in a direction per pendicularto the axis of the axle such devices are deficient at'some point of the ro-l tation, or under` some of the conditions of their operation, but I know of no invention faces with which they contact and upon each other with an entire absence of any possible slipping ol' grinding'inovement at all points friction lof of such contacts,A and thereby reduce the the anti-friction bearing to a minimum..`

'A further object of my invention is to provide a bearing which is exclusively rolling with simpleand convenient meansfor endwise adjustment of both the anti-friction rollers and the spreader rollers by means, simple in construction, exclusively rolling, convenient in operation, and adapted to reduce the end thrusts of said rollers to a minimum, and'to take up wear both of the rollers and their bearing surfaces.

A further object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective means of sustaining and maintaining anti-friction bearing within a suitable casing or hub adaptedto be conveniently secured in its operative position. n

Another object is to have an anti-friction ijournalbearing structure of such form as to exclude dust and other foreign substances therefrom.

A further object is a-=bearing structure provided with adjustable anti-friction devices, supporting and' maintainin in line the free end of an'axle, and also rom contact with itscasing or hub.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in certain features of novelty in construction, combination and arrangement of parts, by which these objects and certain other objects hereinafter set forth are attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In said drawings: Figure 1 illustrates a central longitudinal section in diii'erin planes vthrough an antifrictional journa bearing containing my invention, and in which it is shown in its application to the axle of a railroad car. Fig. 2, vertical transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l. Fig.

3, a transverse section on the line 3--3 of- Fig. l, showing the arrangement of the ball and roller device, suspending the anti-friction journal and journal structure within its casing and Fig. 4:, a detail plan view of the same.

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.v

2 indicates either a shaft or an axle, but when an axle (see Fig. l) it'is provided with a contracted portion 3, projecting through a disk 12a, and has its outer end screw-threaded to receive the nut 4.

Secured on the axle by means of keys 7 is a sleeve 5, provided with openings 6, for the passage therethrough of said keys 7, the inner ends of which keys seat respectively in key seats in the axle 2, and in eppcsitely arranged disks 12-12a, which disks, are thereby held rigid as regards each other and against turning upon the axle, but are adjustable longitudinally on the shaft by elongations in the key-seats 6, 4the inward longitudinal movement of the axle,'being limited by the jam-nut L1.v

The outward end thrust of the axle is taken up and cushioned by a rubber packing 22but no cushioning is provided for the nut 4, because of a cushion, (not shown) on the other end of the axle, which receives the bearing for an axle,'and as I have so'far deblow. .l

vThe disks 12-12, areprovidedgwith oppositely arranged annular grooves 11, the inner corners 11, of which are oblique with reference to the'end and side walls thereof, which grooves form bearings for the main anti-friction rollers, having a larger'diam- -eter bearing against the casing'l, and a smaller diameter on theinner faces of the grooves l1, the outer ends of the diametrical portion of which are beveled to an incline corresponding to the oblique surfaces in the grooves, against Which they have their thrust bearings. f

The main anti-friction rollers 8, are maintained separatefrom each other by what for -convenience are termed spreader-rollers 9,

having larger diameters bearing against and spreading apart the main rollers 8, and smaller diameters bearing against the outer faces of the grooves 11, the ends of' which spreader rollers are beveled to correspond with the oblique bearing surfaces in the grooves, and against which they have their bearing, the lengths of both the rollers 8 and 9,. being such that they have no contact with the end Walls of the groove in whichV they are located, and are of such lengththat they A have practically no end-thrust although running perfectly free in their bearings.

From the foregoing it should vbe yunderstood that the larger diameters of the main rollers 8, contact with the casing, but do not contact with the sleeve 5, `that the reduced portions thereof contact with the inner Wall, but not with either the outer or end walls of the annular groove in the casing; and that on the other hand the larger diameters of -the spreader rollers 9, contact with' both the main rollers adjacent thereto and the reduced portions thereof contact with the outer Wall of the annular 4grooves in the disks, but not' with either the inner or the end Walls l 'thereof or with the casing.

The casing 15, adjacent to'disk 12, is prefpacking 13, the sole function of which is to exclude dust and other foreign ysubstances from the casing and other parts of the bear ing. The casing may be made up of any number of parts, preferably'a cylindrical or angular body portion, as indicated in Fig. 2, i a grooved end-piece for packmg, and a cap, is screwed to place against the disk 24. The

pieces. Nor would it be a departure to'have the casing in the form of a hub revolving on a fixed axle as in road vehiclestheinternal arrangement being identical.

lVhen my invention is adapted ,for a roller scribed it, some means should'be provided for holding the disks away from the adjacent casing and for supporting the outer end of the axle within the casing or hub, espelcially when, as in car-axles, there is considerable leverage, the casing or box being suspendedby a strap 19, andI to these ends, I employ a ring 16, seatedin the casing. surrounding an extended and reduced portion of the disk 12a. which ring is provided on the opposite sides of its depending portion with annular, semi-circular like grooves in cross-section, respectively forming a support and bearing for one set of two series of balls,

16a, the opposite sides of which bear against,

and are supported by a spool 17, have their inner bearing and support, the outer bearings of which balls17a, are in and against annular grooves respectively formed in the disk 12, and a ring 24, screwed on the outer end of the disk, and locked in its adjusted position by a jam-nut 18.l

From the foregoing it will be seen that,

the spools 17, are' entirely supported and suspended by the balls, and serve to spread and maintain the inner and outer balls from contact with.l each other, while the adjustment of the disk Q1, serves to maintain these several anti-friction devicesin their proper relative positions', to take up wear of both the balls and their bearings, and to hold the disks free from the ivalls of the casing.

In assembling the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the sleeve 5 is first slipped into the disk 12 and after inserting the keys 7 7, the disk 12 is placed in w.the first and adjacent section and the second section coupled to it andf all of the rollers placed in their positions` lThe disk 19.? is thenslipped upon the sleeve until the several rollers are in their operative position when the keys 77 are then inserted to place. After placing the first series of balls and spools and balls in position on disk 12, the ring 16 is inserted in theA casing, and after the second series of balls and spools and balls are placed in position the vdisk Q4: is adjusted again-st them but so that disks 19, and 1Q do not come in contact with the casing at any point, andv which can be ascertained by noting how far disk 12a projects beyond the ring 16, and after which the jamnut 18 aol axle* 2 is now slipped in so that its slotted `key seat embraces tlekeys 7;-7 and until its smaller .projection passes through the disk 12il and engages the rubber cushion 22 when the nut fi is screwed to place on the projectingend thereof. .All of the sections of the casing are then bolted together by .after bolt-ing them and the'bearin'g on the other end of the axle, the axle is ready for Work. y 1 'l-n operation, the simultaneous turning on their common axis of the axle 2, disks' 11E-12a, produces al rotation of the main rollersS. on their own axes, in a direction opposite that of the shaft and disks, owing tothe contact of the reduced ends of the rollers 8, with the inner walls of the groove 'in the disks, and of the larger diameters of-'the rollers 8, with the casing, which is stationary, and as a result of which lthe rollers-5,8, during their bodily and translat'- ing movement, roll in contact with the casing jin the same direction as that of the axial movement of the axle. On the other hand' the spreader rollers 9, through the Contact ofy their reduced portions withl the outer. walls of the annular groove 11, of the disks 12-12a andthe contact of their larger diameters -with the surface of adjacent main rollers 8, are thereby Acaused to rotate on their'axes in contrary direction from the main. rollers with which they contact as a resultof which a rolling contact is continuous'ly maintained. not only between the spreader rollers with the disk and the main rollers in their axial rotation, butin their bodily or translating movement about the axle and with the main rollers; in other words, at every point of contact of all of the movable members of the bearing, both between each other and the immovable portions, there is a rolling bearing, and in the same direction as that of their translating movement. l A

In practice, the diameters of the rollers y8 and 9, are so proportioned lthat the number of revolutions necessary for the main `rollers 8, to complete 'their translating movement 'once around the inner face of the grooves in the disk 1:2, is exactly the same'as that necessary for their larger di i ameterto travel once around the inside face i r o of the casmg lo, and the number or revolutions 'made by the larger diameter of the mainy rollers S, on the, larger diameter of .the spreader rollers, 9, 1n a contrary direcand the the disks and the inside ofthe casing 15. The result of this correspondence inthe movements of the rollers, and the distance traveled, is that' after makinggtworevolutions `the axle, the different rollers, disks and lother parts return to theirvollginal pol sitions, and do this at every complete second revolution wit-hout lany skidding or grinding of their surfaces against each other, the disks or casing, and that during such revolutions, -they produce rolling friction only. 1'

I find in practice, that when using y'a 4 inch car-axle journal, the proportionate size of the several arts should be as "follows:- The main rollers 8, having a large diameter of one' and fifteen sixteenths- (1-15/16) inches; small diameter, one and twentyf three one hundred twenty-eighths (1255/128) inches. Spreader rollers 9; large diameter,

one and one fourth (1-1/4) inches; small di ameter, one and twenty-live one hundred twenty-eighths (1-25/128) inches.- The disks 12-12, have a diameter between the inner walls of their grooves 'of'four and one hundred thirteen one hundred twentyeigl'iths (4-113/128)f inches; and a diameter between the outer walls of suchgrooves of sevenand three-fourths (7-3/4) inches. The

casing 15, has an inside diameter of eight (8) inches.

When the several parts have'the diameters main rollers traverse the circumference ,of the inner walls of the grooves in'4.129 revolutions, and at one revolution of. the axle, the larger diameters of the main rollers traverse one-half the distance of the inside circumference of the casing.

1n all cases, so far as I am informed, there appears somewhere, or somehow, a grinding friction which it is important, if possible, to eliminate, and which can only be eliminated by an arrangement that will prevent any slipping or Grinding movement between contacting surfaces, one, or both of which r0- tate under any and all conditions of operatien, and which is provided for by my invention.

The spreader rollers revolve six and four tenths (6.4) times to four and one hundred twenty-nine thousandths (4.129) revolutions of the main roller 8, as their smaller diameters in 6.4 revolutions travel the entire vcircumference of the disk l2, on the outer face of its groove, in a contrary movement but in the same direction as the axle 2, revolves. i

The operation of the supporting devices is as follows: The disk 12a, carries with it in its revolution, the ring 24, whichtogether with the disk impart motion to the balls or rollers in their grooved orbits of translation, the balls or rollers rolling freely upon the spreader spools 1"(7 which isolate them from ach other and im art contrary motion to hose balls or vro 1ers that roll in their ,frooved orbits on opposite sidesof the casng ring 16, thus making a perfect rolling ontact and holding the disks 124-12a away 'rom contact with the casing 15.

While I have described the structures hown in Figs. l and 2, as adapted for an Xle, it is apparent that the same bearing, vithout change may be used for shaft puroses in which case, however, the rubber acking should be removed, the opening in hevdisk 12a Fig. l, should be enlarged to ydmit the passage of the shaft, the casing hould be pierced for the shaft to project vithout touchin the casing, and a collar laced ona sha t on the outer end of the lisk 12,Fig. 1,- and at the inner end of the lisk 12a Fig. 1.

If the bearing should be for a shaft intead of an axle, then all that would be necesary would be to pierce the outer casing as bove described and in this case the dustroof device would be a plied to the ,outer`- nd of the casing as wel as the-inner end hereof.

Having described my invention, what I laim and desire to secure by Letters Pat-v nt is 1. An anti-friction journal bearing corn- 'rising in combination a casing and journal tructure composed of a journal and opposrig disks secured to and rotating with the ournal and provided with bearing surfaces pposing each other, anti-friction bearing rollers having large and small diameters, the larger of which bear against l'the casing, and the smaller diameter against the inner bearing surface ofthe disks, a series of spreader rollers having two different diameters, the larger diameters between and contacting with adjacent bearing rollers, the smallerdiameters contacting with theouter bearing surfaces of said disks, whereby said rollers and disks are respectively revolved about the axes of their bearing, in rollin contact with the casing and said; bearing, su stantially` as described.

2. An anti-frictionjournal bearing comprising in combination a casing, a journal structure comprising a journal and opposing disks mounted thereon and rotating 'therea n ular bearin surfaces, a series of bearing i wjth, having opposing inwardly extending r llers having arge and small diameters respectively bearing against the casingv and t e inner opposing bearing surfaces of the disks, a series of spreader rollers each having a large'diameter between and contactin with adjacent vbearing rollers, and pro'- vi edwith a small diameter the surface of which contacts', with the outer bearing sur-. faces in the opposing rings, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set lmy hand, this 23rd day-of March 1906.

HUBBARD PARKER. In the presence of witnesses.:

` ROBERT T. ERVIN,

VINCENT MGALEER.

Copies 01th!! patent may be obtained 'for Ave cents'ueach, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

